Unfortunately, it seems unlikely to happen until everyone in the territory begins respecting our wildlife.
A few weeks ago, three hunters in Taloyoak were acquitted due to a lack of evidence on charges of harvesting narwhals without a license.
Justice Robert Kilpatrick excluded three narwhal tusks from evidence earlier this summer after ruling the defendants' rights had been violated by investigating officials.
These men were not poachers. They were Inuit hunters. The facts of the case show the three men were hunting to feed themselves, their families and fellow community members. Inuit have been able to take care of the land for thousands of years, which makes it hard to see why territorial hunting regulations and quotas are needed.
But during the same week, an incident happened which made the idea of removing or relaxing hunting regulations the wrong way to go.
A number of caribou were shot and left to rot in Iqaluit after hundreds of animals migrated through town.
More than one person reported seeing numerous dead caribou. People were seen shooting at caribou from their vehicles while parked at the end of Road to Nowhere.
Two of the cases are being investigated and charges of meat wasting may be laid.
Regardless of who did the shooting, the wasting of meat should serve as a reminder to all that we should be careful to use what we take from the land.
Images of some of the rotting carcasses were sent to Nunavut News/North by the Iqaluit wildlife office.
Thinking of how many people in the community could have been fed with the wasted meat was sickening.
Bad hunters like this are the reason people can't hunt without government interference.
Because of them, the rules may well get even tighter and that's a shame.
It now costs nearly a billion dollars a year to govern the NWT, as News/North reported last week.
Most of that money is coming from the federal government. That's the government territorial politicians like to beat up regularly, demanding more cash.
When Nunavut was in the picture in 1998, the territorial government's budget was $1.1 billion.
Nunavut and 25,000 people are gone but the billion-dollar budget is back.
As well, about 4,000 employees ran the pre-division NWT.
Now, five years later, it takes 4,700 in the NWT and 2,400 in Nunavut. This is one of those good news, bad news stories. It's good news that territorial politicians have successfully lobbied the federal government to part with more money each year. The bad news is the territorial government is spending money and hiring at an alarming rate. What do we have to show for it? More fed bashing from territorial politicians.
We're all for fed-bashing, it's a longstanding territorial sport. But the GNWT is in danger of becoming too bloated to be effective.
Now, more than ever, we need ordinary MLA's acting as watchdogs.
Is all the hiring being done in Yellowknife while the communities suffer growing costs but don't benefit from growing employment? Do we have better health and education?
Is too much spent on policy production and too little on improving services to people on the ground?
The cabinet may not like being questioned on how it's spending the cash but the people of the NWT need their MLAs to ensure the dollars are not creating more government at the expense of the territory and its people.
Revenue Canada's recent decision to classify post-secondary education funding for aboriginals as taxable income is completely absurd.
A spokesperson for the federal agency said this change came about when Indian and Northern Affairs Canada informed them that post-secondary education assistance is provided as a matter of social policy, not as a treaty right.
Education has always been considered a treaty right, so why change things now?
NWT regional chief of the Assembly of First Nations Bill Erasmus took the territorial government to court when it tried to tax federal money he received for university education in the 1980s -- and he won. If Canada Customs and Revenue Agency goes ahead with this policy change after Dec. 31, 2005, it will lose the battle, too. Decisions on whether or not post-secondary education is a treaty right are not to be made by some bureaucrat in Ottawa. These decisions should be made at the negotiating table between the federal government and First Nations.
Doing it any other way would be a waste of time and eventually a waste of money when aboriginals head to the courts to settle this ridiculous matter.
Editorial Comment
Darrell Greer
Kivalliq News
Well, it certainly is good to be back home in the Kivalliq.
I would like to personally thank my interim reporter, Lisa Scott, for doing such an admirable job in my absence.
Thanks, Lisa. I owe you one!
It certainly has been interesting gauging Northern fan reaction to the NHL's work stoppage.
What separates this labour war from those of the past is that you would be hard pressed to find many fans who still side with the players.
In fact, this work stoppage is leaving a bad taste in the mouths of most fans.
NHL players have lost touch with reality -- obscene amounts of money can do that -- and are making it all too clear that they don't give a damn about the fans of the game. You know, the people who buy the tickets, pay their salaries and cheer them on.
In short, they're biting the hands of the very people who pay for the comfortable lives they've grown accustomed to.
How do they live on that?
I, like most hockey fans, have grown sick of the players' spoiled attitudes and tired old rhetoric that no longer holds water.
The two that disturb me the most are their stances on career longevity and replacement players.
The NHLPA claims the average lifespan of an NHL career is four years.
Even if that were true, under the NHL's proposed salary cap, the average player's salary would be $1.3 million.
So, over the rigours of their four-year career, they'd make a paltry $5.2 million. Yeah, we can see where it would be awful tough to live on $5.2 million.
Just divide that number by your annual salary if you really want to have a hard time keeping your breakfast down.
Second, NHL players would do everything at their legal disposal to block the NHL from using replacement players, not to mention doing everything possible to tarnish their reputations -- read scab tag hung around the neck.
But, NHL players, who already have banked millions, have no problem going to Europe and taking jobs away from players who aren't in the bigs.
Oh, that's different, eh guys? Why should you care about their families going without a paycheque, as long as you can still jump in your Hummer and your wives and girlfriends don't have to miss any time at the beauty salons and boutiques?
Give it up, guys! You're getting paid incredible amounts of money to play the coolest game in the world. Get back on the ice where you belong!
Editorial Comment
Jason Unrau
Inuvik Drum
Looking at the new lineup of town councillors, one can't help but notice the lack of aboriginal representation.
Examine the voting patterns for mayor at the Ingamo Hall polling station versus the Midnight Sun's and the picture starts to come a little more into focus.
Though important to acknowledge the steep rise in voter turnout -- 63 per cent compared to last election's lacklustre 35 per cent -- the surge can be most likely attributed to political newcomer Kurt Wainman's challenge to incumbent Peter Clarkson, who enjoyed the benefit of acclamation in the last municipal election.
In Wainman's press release following his defeat, he thanks his campaign workers and supporters with this: "Do not feel we lost; we can take pride in a valiant and honourable effort which has raised community awareness and brought our concerns to the table."
When Wainman says "our concerns," one gets the impression that "aboriginal" could easily have been substituted for "our," regardless of whether or not that was indeed the sentiment.
It is also the perfect complement to a remark one of the councillor-elects made after perusing the new council line-up.
"If there ever was an argument for self-government, this is it," the new member said, dropping the results back on to my desk.
In conversation with another councillor-elect Tuesday, that person was curious to know my opinion about why the race for mayor was so close and did I think it had anything to do with issues people had with the actions of the previous council.
Wedge highlighted
While I'm looking forward to seeing the new Family Centre completed and enjoying its amenities, the centre is a good place to begin in terms of highlighting the wedge -- real or imagined -- being driven between the haves and the have-nots in Inuvik.
Some are concerned about the operating costs and whether the town can afford the upkeep of such a facility.
The catalyst for such worries is generally the town's previous solution for saving money on lighting costs at the rink by turning them down a notch on the minor hockey players.
Concerns that an admission charge to use the upcoming Family Centre will put it out of reach for many families in town, especially those with more than one child, are also rampant.
Therein lies the catch-22 of the Family Centre and why, next to the pipeline and self-government, it's still a hot-button discussion topic, even just months before its completion.
Designed to provide a recreational and physical fitness outlet for what many like to believe is a recreation-starved population, many will be unable to access it, therefore making the centre useless for the purpose it was intended -- unless you can afford the price of admission.
If nothing else, the greater interest in the municipal election from all members of the community will hopefully spill over into all levels of politics in the months and years to come.
Editorial Comment
Derek Neary
Deh Cho Drum
A powder keg is explosive, but it doesn't have to blow sky high.
That is precisely the situation in Fort Liard right now. It's volatile. Things could detonate -- or they could be resolved with a little dialogue and co-operation.
A significant number of community members are outspoken about problems in the community, both economic and social. Many point to chief and council as being responsible for pretty well everything.
Chief Floyd Bertrand -- who it should be noted has been elected twice within the past two-and-a-half years -- says band council meetings and Beaver Enterprises board meetings are open to band members. Come in, pull up a chair and sit down. He says the invitation has always been extended.
But, he says, people simply do not show up at those regular meetings. His detractors, on the other hand, contend the band council doesn't hold enough public meetings. It's a divided community.
Some people say social problems, particularly drinking, are exacting a heavy toll right now. Things are slow, there's little work, so people are depressed and turning to alcohol, goes one theory.
Other people point an accusatory finger at chief and council for considering another oil and gas exploration cycle. When land is opened up, big money flows into Fort Liard and then alcohol and drug abuse is rampant, they argue.
So which is it? Are things worse when there's too little money or is it out of control when there's too much money?
Can a balance be struck?
Couldn't better addictions and support programs be put in place to offset social problems?
The answer is yes, but it will only succeed if the community works together.
Someway, somehow, residents in Fort Liard need come together to clear the air. Fort Liard is not the only community in the NWT with such problems, but it's really simmering there now. Diplomacy is badly needed.
Please, prove them wrong
Yes, the calendar really does read 2004. Sitting at the Fort Simpson village council meeting on Monday evening, one could have easily believed that it was 2003. Here were representatives from Imperial Oil making the same overtures to village council that they made 18 months ago.
Council recited its pipeline wish list once again -- very similar to the last time despite a different mayor and some different councillors -- and the industry types promised to take those desires back to their superiors, just as they promised last year. The words yes and no were rarely uttered at all.
It seems that little has changed, other than the passage of time.
A pipeline passed through Fort Simpson in the 1980s with precious little benefit to the community. The proponents of the Mackenzie Valley pipeline are espousing their intent to work with the communities, but they are making few firm commitments at this juncture. Sure, everything is conditional on the pipeline actually being constructed, but a few "Can do" responses would go a long way.
It's up to elected leaders throughout the Deh Cho to hold Imperial Oil's collective feet to the natural-gas-fuelled fire.